This invention relates to an agricultural bagging machine and more particularly to a steering system for such a machine.
Agricultural bagging machines have been used for some time to fill large elongated agricultural bags with silage or the like. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,061, 4,046,068, 4,337,805 and 4,62I,666.
The smaller two-wheel bagging machines are normally hitched to a tractor with the bagging machine pushing the tractor along the ground as the bag as being filled. The two-wheel machines normally have a width sufficiently small enough so that the machine may be towed from one location to another without pivoting the supporting wheels from a bagging position to a towing position. However, in the large four-wheel machines, the width of the machines is such that they are too wide to be pulled from one location to another in the bagging position. Thus, it was heretofore necessary for the machine to be raised by means of a jack or the like so that the wheels could be moved from their normal bagging position to a transport or tow position. This process normally required that pins or bolts be removed and replaced when the wheels had been pivoted.
A further disadvantage in the prior art four-wheel machines is that it was sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to form straight bags since the wheels of the bagging machine did not have any steering capability with the straightness or alignment of the bag being dependent solely upon the brakes at the opposite side of the machine. Yet another disadvantage of the prior art machines of the type described hereinabove is that they are difficult to maneuver in close quarters. A further disadvantage of the prior art machines is that the design of the same made it difficult to closely position adjacent bags.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an improved bagging machine.
A further object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine wherein the supporting wheels may be quickly and easily pivoted from a bagging position to a tow position by means of hydraulic cylinders operatively connected thereto.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine having steering capabilities.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine having the capability of "spin turning".
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine having support wheels pivotally mounted thereon which includes a pair of driven wheels.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine which eliminates the necessity of wheel stops, pins or bolts to maintain the wheels in the proper bagging or tow position.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine having hydraulically pivoted wheels including re-phase cylinders to ensure that the wheels will be properly aligned.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a bagging machine which may be operated in tight quarters.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.